Any ways to help remember preterit irregulars?

Question

I have a big spanish midterm final tomorrow, my teacher is insane. Anyone have any useful ways to remember the irregular preterit verbs? I know i should probably just memorize them, but hey be creative!

Welcome to the forum! Good luck on you test! - sanlee, Dec 12, 2011

Answer 1

Learn them by groups, but there is no avoiding some memorization:

Totally irregular: ir/ser and dar (but dar works just like ver, just switch the d and v)

Then the standard irregulars (all use the same endings):

Uv group- tener, estar, andar—tuv, estuv, anduv

U group- caber, saber, haber, poder, poner- cup, sup, hub, pud, pus

I group- hacer, venir, querer- hic, vin, quis- and remember in 3rd singular it is hizo to maintain pronunciation

IJ combination- Decir- Dij

J- traer, and anything that ends in ducir- traj, --duj

And remember that any verb based on the above follows the same pattern (eg, deshacer- deshic, mantener- mantuv, etc.).

I do not know any tricks for orthographic changes, except think about how they should be said and follow the verbal with standard Spanish spelling.

I have no help for the stem changes- you just have to get used to them.

Answer 2

Here's a song that might help you remember!

This song (to the tune of La Cucaracha may help) -

Tener es tuve, estar estuve. Ir es fui y también es ser. Poner es puse, poder es pude. Traje es para traer.

Hacer, hice; haber, hube. Saber, supe; querer, quise. Decir, dije; venir, vine Ver vi, dar di; sin acentos

Here's the Youtube version (:

direct link

Hope I helped!

-Cindy.

This is great! Thanks!! I added the direct link for easier access. :) - Nicole-B, Dec 12, 2011

What fun! [I've also learned a lot from this teacher's videos.] - territurtle, Dec 13, 2011

This is the exact video I used to learn these! me encanto tontitofrito! - La_Flaca, Dec 13, 2011

THAT HELPED ME A LOT:) i had that song stuck in my head for about a week after the final and it helped.. i got a 100 on the final! - MEClark, Apr 4, 2012

Answer 3

I learned a little song in school. I don't know if you will find it helpful or not, but here it is.

fui, di, vi

hice, quise, vine, yo

tuve, estuve, anduve, yo

pude, puse, supe, yo

dije, traje, conduje, yo

OMG I learned a song kind of like this! (: - heyitscindyxo, Dec 12, 2011

Do you remember what tune it was set to? - Nicole-B, Dec 12, 2011

Unfortunately I dont. I haven't used the song in over three years. I just remember we sang it all the time in class and we added "ya yo sé los, ya yo sé los verbos irregulares" at the end. - kramer12, Dec 13, 2011

Answer 4

You can try some flash card sets. There are many preterit irregular ones. Here is a good one. link text

Answer 5

Well, first of all it's never a good idea to wait until the day before the final to start studying for a test. You really should memorize them because there aren't that many of them, yet some of the most important verbs in Spanish have these so called "irregular" endings. A short list includes: decir, traer, querer, poder, hacer, poner, andar, caber, estar, ser, tener, dar, ir, saber, etc. I always recommend that people incorporate anything that they learn into actual conversation. Since you need to learn this material relatively fast, I would suggest staying up all night creating sentences with these types of verbs.